The post Hotel Week Returns to Rhode Island April 17-30 appeared first on Active Travels.
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Top hotels and inns around the Ocean State have significantly discounted their rates April 17-30, just in time to welcome visitors in need of a quick getaway or school vacation trip. The Second Annual Hotel Week features flat rates of $100, $200, and $300 per property as well as packages. For example, your family can spend the night at Newport’s Hotel Viking for $100 and enjoy the indoor pool. Or treat yourself to a cozy room with a fireplace and balcony at the Shelter Harbor Inn in Westerly or a junior suite with breakfast at the Stone House in Little Compton for $200. $300 a night will get you a master junior suite and hot breakfast at the Auberge Collection property, The Vanderbilt in Newport, or a midweek night at the Weekapaug Inn in Westerly, which Travel & Leisure named “One of the Best Hotels in the World.” If you need help with what to do in Rhode Island, pick up a copy of my latest book, New England in a Nutshell, where I include more than 75 entries on Rhode Island.
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]]>The post 9 Exceptional Mountain Biking Locales, Including Arcadia Management Area, Hope Valley, Rhode Island appeared first on Active Travels.
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Situated on the western part of the state, the 13,817-acre Arcadia attracts bikers from as far as Boston and New Haven. Over thirty miles of singletracks, doubletracks, and dirt roads snake through the forest. Hop on your bike and dip into a shaded thicket of pine, beech, and oak trees. You’ll quickly learn that this rural section of Rhode Island near the Connecticut border does indeed have hills. Ride along streams, pass forgotten fishing holes, eventually making your way to the yellow-blazed trail in the far right hand corner of the park that lines Breakheart Pond. Then get lost on a web of trails that branch off like spokes on a wheel. That’s the beauty about mountain biking at a place like Arcadia. Unlike road biking, where you always seem to be staring at a map or have that annoying car on your tail, mountain biking offers a liberating feeling of spontaneity. Here, you’re free to wander with rarely another biker in sight and the only obstacle, the occasional horseback rider. All the while, smelling the pines and listening to birds.
This entry is excerpted from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book/ebook is slated to published tomorrow, July 2nd, and you can pre-order now at Amazon or at the independent bookstore, Northshire, located in Manchester Center, Vermont and Saratoga, New York. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa Leavitt, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.
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]]>The post 7 Best Bike Rides, Including Little Compton, Rhode Island appeared first on Active Travels.
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South of Route 195 and the gritty mill towns of Fall River and New Bedford lies countryside so fertile you’ll feel like you’re in Vermont. Stretching from Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to Little Compton, Rhode Island, the area is known as the Heritage Farm Coast. It has the sunniest and most temperate climate in New England and thus the longest growing season. Dairy farms, corn fields, even vineyards, border the Sakonnet River as it washes into the Atlantic.
For a good 20-mile loop, take Route 77 south from Tiverton Four Corners to Sakonnet Point and return on backcountry roads past the village green of Little Compton. Tiverton Four Corners is a rural village that dates from the 17th century and is now home to artisans like jeweler Tiffany Peay (3851 Main Road), who uses brightly colored gems to create bracelets and necklaces with contemporary flair. Or energize with an ice cream cone at the legendary Gray’s (16 East Road), which serves my favorite black raspberry in New England. The stretch of road heading south from Tiverton Four Corners is a beaut, with views of rolled hay leading to the shores of the wide Sakonnet River. When you finally reach Little Compton, you’ve earned those Johnnycakes (fried cornmeal) at The Common’s Lunch. But first, get a feel for the history of this quintessential New England village by walking across the street to the white steeple, village green, and cemetery. Stubs stick out of the ground and if you peer closely, you’ll notice that the first settlers are buried here, with dates of death registered as far back as 1711.
This entry is excerpted from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book/ebook is slated to published on July 2nd and you can pre-order now at Amazon. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.
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